Saturday, 30 July 2011

July’s second New Moon is fired up by Leo bringing a sense of renewal into our lives. New ideas and plans will begin to flow, and we will start to see more creative ways of using our time and energy. Leo is colourful and dramatic, so we need to be sure that we don’t get too carried along in the action, but by keeping our feet on the ground, there is no reason why we still cannot reach for the stars. This second New Moon acts as catalyst for an incredibly intense, profound and powerful summer; a time of re-awakening and re-discovery...

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

Ceres moves retrograde today, the 26th July. This dwarf planet, so often overlooked by astrologers, is a little powerhouse playing such a pivotal and profound role in our lives. Ceres is the Earth Mother; she is the nurturer, Goddess of the harvest.

Ceres represents self-worth and self-esteem, and she connects us to some deep and profound emotions such as loss, separation, grief, dependency, attachment etc. Ceres helps us to nourish and nurture ourselves on all levels.

Moving retrograde, Ceres takes her focus deep within, she wants us to think about the ways in which we take care of ourselves. Do we feed ourselves nourishing food? Do we shower ourselves with loving thoughts? Do we take care of our needs as a priority in our lives? The most likely answer is no. Of course, we all have duties and responsibilities, and these often take us away from focusing on ourselves and more towards the needs of others. This is part of being human, but at the same time, don’t we owe it to ourselves to honour and respect our own needs, our own souls?

Once again, it seems that balance is the key here; by ensuring that we give ourselves time and focus as well as giving of ourselves to others, we can create more harmony in our lives.

Yet Ceres retrograde goes deeper than this!

During this time of intense planetary focus on our inner landscapes, Ceres is asking us to go within, to stand naked and vulnerable, baring our souls. She wants us to stop hiding our fears and our pain, and instead honour them so we can set them free. It is through honouring these powerful, rich and sometimes painful emotions that we connect to our true strength. And it is through this connection, that we realise the power within. Like the beautiful, calm, tranquil and peaceful mountain; deep beneath the surface is a glowing, energised and highly active volcano waiting to burst into life.

Appearances can be deceptive, yet how many of us work so hard at putting on the ‘right’ appearance? How many of us try to be that mountain, and allow the pressure to build up within?

The Earth Mother is beautiful, but she can destroy as easily as she creates. Of course, we cannot have one without the other, but it seems that so many of us struggle to accept this fundamental cycle of life. Instead of clinging onto that highly polished veneer, Ceres is asking each of us to stand in our Truth, to be whole and complete within ourselves, on all levels.

It is ok to be a beautiful volcano! When we stop trying to beat back our Truth, we realise that we do not have to fear our painful emotions. We can reach a point where every emotion leads us towards a richer, more fulfilled way of life. This is not about dwelling on pain, or wallowing in difficult emotions, this is simply about accepting that we have them in the first place.

Ceres wants us to embrace the full and rich tapestry of life, she wants us to celebrate the true harvest of life on every level of our Beings...

Monday, 18 July 2011

As the heavens continue to push, poke and prod us from all angles, it seems that our perspectives are beginning to widen and shift. Life simply doesn’t look the same anymore, no matter how hard we try to squint, bend our heads or strain.

Whether it was a conscious decision or not, it seems that we have stepped onto a new path in life. That path is more mindful, more awake and more alive. As we continue to awaken, we can expect to see a huge shift in our priorities over the weeks and months ahead. Those things that have always seemed so important; just aren’t anymore.

This is not about shunning the 21st century and living in solitude halfway up a mountain (although that would definitely suit some!), but this is about realising that money, status, the square footage of our homes and the ‘street cred’ of our cars really is not that important in the scheme of things. Ok, we need money to survive, we need shelter, transport etc, but what we need above all else is a feeling that we belong, feeling that we are part of the Whole. We need meaning, we need purpose, we need unity in the truest sense of the word.

As we move ever closer towards that connection now, it seems that the greed and materialism all around us starts to ebb away from our field of vision, it is as though we are shifting into some kind of parallel dimension where we still live side by side, but our view of the world is so different to the view of many of our neighbours. We are becoming less and less sucked into the material and physical desires of so many of our peers.

It seems that we are realising that true riches come from within. It is within each and every one of us that love, compassion, unity and bliss resides. We may have touched one or all of these in our lives, but now we are being asked to immerse ourselves in them, to bask in the pure joy.

And, what about back in the real world you may ask, well, we are approaching a bridge now, a bridge that links the inner with the outer, the day with the night. This bridge is within, it is without, it is everywhere but it is nowhere too. This bridge is a huge shift in consciousness as we continue to evolve and awaken as sentient Beings.

If we choose to step through this special doorway (and there is a choice, for we can choose to remain part of the flock keeping our heads down and just getting on with the business of life), we are choosing to step into the unknown. This new territory looks set to be a place where we move beyond duality, beyond the spectrum. This new terrain is a place where day is night and night is day, where dark is light and light is dark. This is a place where we move beyond our present understanding and realise that everything is truly part of the Whole.

When we connect with this understanding, and then feel it, we begin to realise that anything and everything is possible in life. We have the power to change the energy of our lives through our intent, through our beliefs and through our thoughts. When we truly realise that life is not all about balancing the extremes of the polarities all around us but it is about seeing them as one in the first place, everything takes on new meaning and purpose.

We move beyond the obstacles that we all create in our lives through fear, over-thinking and underestimating our abilities. We move beyond that crippling indecisive paralysis that prevents us from following our dreams, and we move beyond the light.

Beyond the Light is balance, harmony and pure bliss. Beyond the Light we can make sense of life as we can intuit, create and know what to do. And beyond the Light, we can begin to stand in our Truth, reclaim our power and reclaim our true sense of Self.

This is a huge leap forwards in our evolution, and yet it is long overdue. We have lived in a world divided by polarities for eons, and now we have a chance to live in true Unity on all levels, in all ways. This is a very special time indeed...

Friday, 15 July 2011

The Full Moon is in Capricorn on the 15th July at 06.39 GMT (07.39BST)

Full Moons can create great unrest in many sensitive or intuitive souls; it is as though the light from the Moon shines within and unlocks a myriad of different doors and windows to the soul. This can cause sleepless nights, restlessness and sometimes confusion and disorientation. July’s Full Moon is no exception as we continue to awaken and stir from within. We are undergoing major change and transformation now, and the Moon will stir up feelings, thoughts and emotions that we need to honour, face and release. This is a time to connect to the power within and honour this deeply reflective time to get life back into perspective once again, and so allow the light of the Moon to feed our souls.

Sunday, 10 July 2011

Dear Uranus, the rebel, the truth seeker, the innovator, the free spirit. Uranus is that voice within that encourages and inspires us to honour our individuality and to be truly free. Uranus is truth and he is freedom; and when retrograde, Uranus asks that each of us explores the Light of Consciousness within.

We all carry within us Light and Dark, these polar opposites representing Yin and Yang, Day and Night, Life and Death. The Light of Consciousness is Truth; it is our willingness to face Truth in our lives, and it is our ability to embrace freedom. Many of us still believe that we are afraid of the Dark and so cling to the Light as friend and protector. Yet, it seems that the true fear is of the Light, for it is the Light that illuminates our souls and shows the fullness of our Beings. The Light helps us to receive and to face Truth, and it is only by being ready to receive this truth that we can truly evolve and grow as sentient Beings.

Truth and Light are not about judgment, nor are they about fear. They are about opening up our eyes to see what’s already there. Truth is a state of Knowing. Once we illuminate Truth, fear vanishes. Yet fear is not bad, it is part of being human. It all comes down to balance...

We all carry Dark, we all carry Light. The perfect balance between the two is bliss. We simply cannot have one without the other, and to deny the darkness is akin to denying a huge part of ourselves. Honouring the darkness is not about turning into hardened criminals, but it is about realising that each of us is a delicate balance of polarities, and this balance needs constant work, frequent re-adjustment and a lot of perseverance!

In Aries, Retrograde Uranus will inspire us to move beyond outdated fears and beliefs, and he will encourage us to think freely as individuals. At the same time, Uranus asks that we move through life with open-minds and hearts, without judgement and without persecuting those that we do not understand. In many ways, this is about living freely and allowing others to do the same, but it goes deeper than this. For Retrograde Uranus wants us to emanate Truth and freedom from every level of our Beings. This is a time for being free spirits in every sense of the word.

So, it seems clear that it is time to affirm what is truly important to us and to have the courage to let go of all those things that no longer serve us. We need to stay connected to the core of our Beings to tap into that huge well of strength, courage, inspiration, creativity, clarity and vision that resides there.

When we add Ceres moving into Aries into this mix alongside all the other inner focused planets, it seems that the cosmos is inspiring each of us to nurture and nourish ourselves on every level. It is time to become fully awake and to live life as consciously and joyfully as possible...

Monday, 4 July 2011

As the intense and somewhat profound cosmic twists and turns continue, it seems that many of us are facing some of our biggest challenges. We are being taken within on one hand but being thrown challenges by our external world on the other. In some ways life feels tiring and very pedestrian, but deep within, the transformation and awakening continues as we become more alive, more aware and more awake. This inner/outer pull is exhausting, and it is confusing.

So, how can we remain calm and centred within, but deal with the ensuing chaos all around? Well, someone special to me said that we need to be like the Whirling Dervishes; still and focused within despite the intense activity without. We will find ourselves able to cope with whatever happens around us. We can be busy and calm at the same time. It all comes down to focus, belief and to intent.

With so many planets retrograde, and with Uranus and Ceres both joining this inner circle during July, it seems that we truly need to focus on reclaiming that quiet space within. It is from this quiet space that we can re-connect to the core of our Beings and reclaim our sense of Self. It is also time to reclaim our space; both within and without!

Our relationships move onto centre stage now; in particular, the relationship that we have with ourselves. It is time to find our inner voice, to celebrate our gifts and to begin to feel truly alive. Despite the challenges, the emotional intensity and the discombobulation, it seems clear that we need to stand firm, like buoys on stormy seas. We need to use our faith and belief to trust that our needs will be taken care of and to trust that we are strong enough to ride out the storm. The more we can tap into, and use, that huge well of strength that lies within each of us, the more we can bring into our lives to create positive change and transformation.

In many ways, this is a time for amalgamating, for resting, and for ‘being’; but at the same time, the need to be ‘doing’ is inescapable. Therefore, balance is so important. We cannot have being without doing; doing without being. That would be like day without night, or yin without yang...

With such a strong focus on our inner landscape, we need to ensure that we tend the garden within. As well as weeding, planting new seeds and tending the land with love and tenderness, we need to find space for rest and reflection. This could be an arbour or a cushion under an oak tree, but somewhere within where we can find comfort, true nourishment and love. We all have a focus to make the world a better place, but this needs to be within each of us as well as all around. Unless we are whole and complete within, how can we love, nurture and tend to others?

We need to learn to truly love ourselves, to honour ourselves and to respect ourselves. These words are bandied about freely, but do we truly and honestly love, honour and respect ourselves? How many of us beat ourselves up every single day for not being good enough, not being paid enough, for eating that bar of chocolate, for thinking we look fat and ugly? Thought so, this has to stop now!

Alexander Pope once wrote ‘To err is human, to forgive is Divine’; we should remember that we are all Divine, we carry a Divine spark within, and we are all part of the One. It is time to forgive ourselves now and to change our inner dialogues towards a more life enhancing positivity.

As the planets continue to weave their magic web, we need to stand firm and strong, and to realise that, in so many ways, we are the masters of our own destiny. We do shape our own lives through our thoughts, our actions, and through the state of our inner landscapes. If we have a weed- ridden mess within, how on earth are we to have any sense of clarity or vision? At the same time, with such chaos within, it becomes hard to take responsibility for our choices, to feel inspired, to be empowered or to use the power of our intent, because we have no inner space to do this from.

We really need to focus within now, to have a de-clutter, to re-shape our thoughts, to understand that our thoughts shape our lives, and to believe in the power of positive thought.

Intent is a word so often used, but perhaps not truly understood. Intention is an unbending knowing, not a glimmer of hope or a ‘well, that would be nice’; intention has power, it has strength. Intention makes things happen. This is not about ego, it is simply about knowing that we can shape our lives way and beyond what we think possible.

So, it seems clear that we have choices to make, gardens to tend and intentions to create. Whilst this is in so many ways a challenging time, it is also a time to re-write the rule book, to start afresh and to become truly empowered. We can remain lost in the chaos if we choose, or we can stand strong and resolute, and transform our lives from the inside out...

Friday, 1 July 2011

The New Moon (and Partial Solar Eclipse) is in Cancer on the 1st July at 08.53 GMT (09.53 BST)

July’s first New Moon is in Cancer. The Moon rules Cancer, so this is a strong and powerful event accentuated even more with the Partial Solar Eclipse. It is important to stay connected to what’s truly important in life and be open to letting go of the things that are not. As always, New Moon’s are about inner clarity and vision, and this one seems even more potent than usual as there is a need to move beyond any emotional clutter within in order to find peace and joy. It is time to let go of any emotional ‘baggage’ so we are clearer vessels to let in Light, joy and compassion. It is important to take some time out for reflection and contemplation.

About Me

I am a writer and spiritual counsellor.I have spent my life offering inspiration, insight, personal empowerment, healing, life guidance and spiritual advice to others.
I am also disabled and living with numerous long-term health issues. Over time, I have found inspiration from my pain and ill-health and this is reflected in my writing.
I have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility Type), PoTS, CRPS and Fibromyalgia to name but a few. However I am not my conditions!